Memory-Less
by Neko Neko Rachie
Summary: KCYGO An amnesiac Atem falls through the ceiling of the headquarters of the First Nome, and is thrown into the world of the House of Life who sense very powerful magic in him. But Set is rising, and the Kane siblings Carter and Sadie bring Atem along for the ride- if a ,sane person could call this a "ride"- and Set seems to want him dead more than Carter and Sadie. For some reason.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One****:  
I Find an Underground Nightmare**

**A T E M**

_I ran through the catacombs, hearing... Whoever it was cackling behind me._

"_Come on, Atem." H_e _taunted, "Duel me."_

_I turned around to face him._

_In the dim light, I could hardly see him- but I could make out off-white hair, tan skin, and a horrible 4-stitched scar._

_I considered the duel._

_We were under The Sphinx, 10 feet underground, and if he summoned Diabound... He could bring the whole lot of it down on top of us._

"_No." I said, my voice steady._

_He gave a little chuckle._

"_As you wish, Your Highness." _

_He said "Your Highness" with utmost disrespect._

_His chuckle burst into laughter and the ground under me shuddered._

"_Bakura..." I said warningly, but he just grinned at me._

"_Farewell, My Pharaoh."_

_And I fell straight through the ground, towards my doom._

…

I awoke to an enchanted wet towel dabbing my forehead.

I wasn't sure why this didn't surprise me, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I wasn't sure of anything.

The only thing I could remember was my name.

_Atem_.

My head pounding as if someone had ripped into my head and stolen my memories the way one might reach into a purse and steal a wallet.

The towel seemed to huff at my sudden sit up and floated away.

I looked around.

It was your average infirmary, just with balls of light instead of doctors. I wondered why there was no sunlight coming through the windows, despite the fact that the clock on the wall said noon.

A ball of light floated over to me.

_You must rest._ It said inside my head- which, by the way, was not exactly comforting-, _The Chief Lector wishes to speak with you._

"Chief Lector..." I said quietly. The title seemed familiar, as if someone close to me was a part of whatever this Chief Lector person was. Wherever _I_ was.

So, listening to the strange, mind-speaking ball of light, I lied down and tried to sleep, but I needed none.

In about an hour- filled with boredom, mind you- a man who just might have been 2000 years old came into the room, headed for me.

He had dark skin, but it was sagging. His eyes seemed thousands of years old, just as mine did when I looked at myself in the silver table beside me. He wore a leopard skin over his shoulders- which I was sure was illegal in about every country- but he smiled at me, none-the-less. He had hieroglyphs floating around him- literally. The things seemed to be coming out of his skin.

It was, needless to say, odd.

I assumed he was the Chief Lector.

"Hello." I said, holding my head proudly, but not arrogantly.

"Hello." He said.

He sounded as if he were dying.

"You fell through the cavern roof last night."

So we were underground.

"I did?"

"Yes. It was quite terrible. But we fixed you up. Not to despair, we have the best healers in the whole House of Life."

_House of Life..._

I rembered a face.

A girl.

She had lightly tanned skin, an dark green eyes. Her hair fanned out from her head as if it had been standing up that morning, and she'd brushed it down best she could and pulled a hat over her head. She wore thick eyeliner- kohl- around her eyes.

I had no idea who she was, but she was so familiar, it hurt.

"House of Life.." I repeated, "Magicians?"

"Yes." The Chief Lector said, "I assumed you are one, seeing as you found us."

His eyes now seemed a little guarded.

"I... I don't _think_ I'm a magician, but, uh..."

I stared at the strange object on my right arm.

A long, gold, leg-warmer-on-my-arm, with a wing sprouting out the side. I had no idea what it did, or if it was even magical, but I knew it was important to me.

"Do you not remember?" Snorted a man with a very heavy French accent.

I looked over at the man- a forked beard, long dark hair, exactly what I think a stereotypical Frenchman would look like.

"No." I said, "No I do not."

The Chief Lector regarded me, then the object on my arm.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Atem." I said.

Thunder rumbled, despite us being underground.

The Chief Lector then spoke to the forked-beard man in another language- Greek.

I understood the words "Kanes" "Zia" and "Jullian".

I knew they were names.

But... Who's names?

And what did they have to do with me?

…

**I just had to!**

**The Kane Chronicles is like ASDFKL;**

**It's just beautiful.**

**This is post-series for YGO, and The Red Pyramid for KC.**

**K thanks, love y'all, BAI**


	2. An Amnesiac Magician is Tight with Iskla

**Chapter Two****:  
An Amnesiac Magician  
is Tight with Isklander**

**Z I A**

**A/N: Don't ask me how Zia's narrating if she's a shabti. I do what I want.**

Zia here.

Sorry to cut into Atem's explanation, but I'm afraid I'd narrate this better.

So, I lead the Kane siblings down the Hall of Ages.

They seemed mystified. Once, I had to pull Sadie away from an image.

Sorry, but I didn't want any burnt-up magicians.

Up to the dais, where not only did the Chief Lector sit, but also another.

I could tell that he was somewhat tall. He wore some sort of uniform- a blue jacket lined with white, the collar popped, along with blue trousers, and some sort of leather, sleeveless shirt- which I would not recommend to magicians- two belts crossed across his waist, one with a holder big enough for a deck of cards. On his wrist was...

What _was_ that?

It was like a long, thick, pure gold bracelet with an intricately designed wing closed up on the side.

I could feel the magical energy radiating off of it- dark, and very powerful- but the blue-clad boy seemed not to notice.

His hair was another thing all together.

It was shaped like a star- fanning out around his head, two spikes popping out behind his neck on either side, black, edged with dark purple. His bangs were sharp, thin and bright yellow. He must use a lot of hairspray.

Isklander turned to us, as did the spiky-haired boy.

"Zia," Isklander said, speaking to me in Alexandrian Greek, "I'd like you to meet Atem."

Atem nodded to me politely.

"Pleasure to meet you." He said.

"You as well..."

Isklander looked at Carter, and I could tell by his tense muscles and scared expression that the Chief Lector was seeing "what he's got".

Isklander turned and called for Desjardins.

The man stepped from the shadows, and I heard Carter inhale swiftly.

Naturally, he said something smart.

"He's really old. Why isn't he sitting on the throne?"

[Sadie is laughing right now. Can't blame her, can you?]

Desjardins inhaled sharply, but Isklander just laughed.

"Master Isklander thanks you for noticing that, yes, he is quite old. The throne is... _Comment di-ton... _Symbolic. He, as Chief Lector is to be in servitude to the Pharaoh. That is why he sits on the steps."

"If you..." Carter said nervously, "If he can understand English... What language is he speaking?"

Desjardins sniffed.

"The Chief Lector understands many things, but prefers Alexandrian Greek, his birth tongue."

Carter seemed to be fitting things together.

Sadie cleared her throat. "Sorry, his birth tongue? Wasn't Alexander the Great way back in the blue section, thousands of years ago? You make it sound like Lord Salamander is-"

"Lord Isklander!" Desjardins hissed, "Show some respect!"

It seemed Carter had fit things together at last.

Isklander looked Carter in the eyes and smiled, speaking in Greek.

"The master says not to worry. You will not be held responsible for the past crimes of your family. At least, not until we have investigated you further."

"Gee..." Carter muttered, "Thanks."

"Do not mock our generosity, boy." Desjardins warned, "Your father broke our most important law twice: once at Cleopatra's Needle, when he tried to summon the gods and your mother died assisting him. Then again at the British Museum, when your father was foolish enough to use the Rosetta Stone itself. Now your uncle too is missing-"

"You know what's happened to Amos?" Sadie blurted out.

"We are searching," Desjardins said. "But you cannot worry about Amos. You must stay here. You must be...trained."

I knew Desjardins did not mean 'trained'. He knew that they were godlings. Ra, I'd been able to tell.

Atem looked up at Desjardins, raising an eyebrow.

So he knew English.

Strange. He'd spoken to me in Ancient Egyptian.

"If I may, Desjardins." He said. The frenchman looked at the spiky-haired boy with dislike, but he obviously sensed the power that he had, "They look much too old to be trained properly, don't you think?"

He sounded genuine, so perhaps they hadn't informed him of the Kanes' god-like abilities.

"They are Kanes, Atem." Desjardins said, "They will do fine."

"Some ancient bloodline?" Atem asked.

Was he even a magician? Everyone knew that the Kanes were descended from the Pharaohs. Narmer, specifically.

"Very ancient." Desjardins confirmed.

Atem nodded, seemingly understanding.

"I'm sorry," Sadie said, "but, uh, who are you, exactly?"

Atem shook his head desperately.

"I wish I knew."

"His name is Atem." I said.

"That I knew." Atem said.

Sadie nodded.

"You three," Desjardins said, nodding to the Kanes and Atem, "will sleep with the trainees tonight. When you awake in the morning, the Kanes will go about their duel-"

"Duel?" Sadie demanded.

Atem seemed horrified at the thought.

"You're going to force two children to _duel_?" He demanded.

Desjardins' eyes fell on the winged bracelet on Atem's arm.

"Not a duel in the way you're thinking."

Atem blinked twice, as if he couldn't understand what he'd been arguing about.

"A-alright."

But he still seemed a bit suspicious about Desjardins' priorities, just as I had always been.

Perhaps he was not a threat.

But... -My eyes fell on the winged bracelet, still having no idea what it did- But he was definitely powerful.

How, I could not even begin to imagine.

Nor did I want to.

…

**SORRY IT'S SO SHORT**

**I tried to tune this into the actual chapter of The Red Pyramid as best I could, and this is what you get.**

**SHADOW MAGIC IN THE NEXT CHAPTER**

**K, love y'all, BAI**


	3. I Master some Shadows

**Chapter Three****:  
I Master some  
Shadows**

**A T E M**

**A/N: Just so you know, Shadow Magic doesn't come in until near the end of this chapter. **

**Just a warning.**

[No, Carter, I'm narrating this.]

Atem here. Again.

I'm sorry if I annoy you with my constant cut-ins, but, uh, it's for the best...?

That'll do.

So we slept with the Initiates, Sadie, as I was told her name was, slept with the girls. Carter, the boy, slept with myself and the Initiates.

Carter left at some point during the night, but came back eventually.

I lied there until long after the Initiates left.

Zia came in.

"Carter, Atem," She said, "to the Cleansing Room."

I hadn't slept all night, so the long walk was like a trip to the Shadows.

… Were did that thought come from? One could not walk into shadows, could they?

I shook my head, telling myself that I was talking crazy talk.

"You look like you didn't sleep all night." Carter said.

"I didn't." I replied.

"Why not?"

"Too much emptiness..." I said quietly, looking around.

The very ancient feel made me feel at home.

… For some reason.

Zia led us into a large room, a statue of Thoth, the god of knowledge, in the center.

Something about that statue made me think of a young man. Chestnut hair, dark blue eyes, ivory skin. He wore a long white coat, and black jeans and a shirt of the same colour. I couldn't for the life of me remember his name. But still.

Zia told Carter and I to stand there.

She walked off.

"You know," I grumbled, "you don't look like you slept too well, either."

He sighed.

"What's it like? Remembering nothing about who you are or where you're from?"

I looked at him.

"Empty." I said honestly, "You think of things that you just can't pin down, say things you don't understand..." I sighed, "It's horrible."

Carter was dressed in linen, with a work bag over his shoulder. Usual magicians attire.

Sadie and Zia came in, Sadie very wet.

She was staring at Carter, as if in deep thought.

"What?" Carter asked, "You're staring at me funny."

"Nothing." She said quickly, "How'd you sleep?"

"Badly. I'll...I'll tell you about it later."

Zia went to a cupboard and pulled out two ceramic cups.

She handed one to Sadie and one to Carter.

"Drink." She said.

Sadie glanced at Carter.

"After you." She said.

"It's only water." She assured them, "But purified by the power of Thoth. It will focus your mind."

Sadie seemed confused for a second, then shrugged.

The two dipped their cups in and drank.

I saw their eyes focus, and Sadie bounced up and down on her toes.

"Wow." Carter said.

"Now the tattoos." Zia said.

"Brilliant!" Sadie cried.

"On your tongue." Zia added.

"Excuse me?"

Zia stuck out her tongue.

"Nith ith Naat," She tried to say with her tongue out. Then she realized her mistake and stuck her tongue back in. "I mean, this is Ma'at, the symbol of order and harmony. It will help you speak magic clearly. One mistake with a spell-"

"Let me guess," Sadie said, "we'll die."

From her cabinet of horrors, Zia produced a fine-tipped paintbrush and a bowl of blue dye. "It doesn't hurt. And it's not permanent."  
"How does it taste?" Carter wondered.  
Zia smiled. "Stick out your tongue."

_Oh, Ra, this tastes like burning rubber!_

I winced at the strength of the memory- the voice of a girl. I still couldn't remember her name! But I knew it belonged to the girl I'd seen- the one that flickered in my mind when Isklander mentioned the House.

Sadie spat a glob of the Ma'at tattoo in the fountain.

"Never mind breakfast." She said, "I lost my appetite."

Zia pulled a leather satchel out of the cabinet. "Carter will be allowed to keep your father's magic implements, plus a new staff and wand. Generally speaking, the wand is for defense, the staff is for offense, although, Carter, you may prefer to use your khopesh."  
"Khopesh?"  
"The curved sword," Zia said. "A favored weapon of the pharaoh's guard. It can be used in combat magic. As for Sadie, you will need a full kit."

"How come he gets Dad's kit?" Sadie complained.

"He is the eldest." Zia said.

Made sense.

She tossed Sadie a small pouch, which I assumed had the necessities.

"What about the little wax man?" She protested, "I want a doughboy!"

I would not say this aloud, but she sounded like a child.

"If you mean a figurine, you must shape one yourself, if you have the skill."

So, Zia explained about specialties.

There was healers, amulet makers, animal charmers, elementalists, combat magicians, necromancers- which, I, personally, did not want to meet- and plenty more.

Zia led us to a table, where Carter and Sadie were to practice Divine Words.

Carter summoned a bird- which pooped on him- and a butter knife.

He seemed exhausted afterwords.

Sadie seemed a bit irritated, so she took the pen and wrote what I clearly saw was _fire._

The paper exploded into a column of flames, and Sadie screamed, jumping back.

The fire died.

Zia stared at her for three heartbeats, her eyebrows completely gone.

"I think," She said, "that you are ready to duel."

…

Zia created a portal on the library wall- which I was not surprised about.

In one side, out the other.

We brushed the sand off of our clothes and looked around.

"Thebes..." I whispered, recognizing the place, somehow.

"Thebes is the ancient name." Zia said, shooting me an odd look, "Now-a-days, the mortals call it Luxor."

"Well that's brilliant." I said, "I believe I'll keep calling it Thebes."

"This temple is powerful." Zia said, "Still full of magic."

"A very sacred place to the Pharaohs." I said.

"Yes." Zia said.

We kept walking.

"I don't like those ugly sphinxes." Sadie said.

"'Those ugly sphinxes' are the protectors of Egypt." I said, "Creatures of law and order."

Zia gave me that funny look again.

"Are you sure you're not a magician?" She said.

"I am."

I was, really.

I mean, magic wasn't that much of a shock to me, but I knew that I was definitely _not_ a magician.

We came upon a courtyard.

I could almost see it in it's prime- a large stone room, statues of pharaohs around the walls.

I could almost see it from a pharaoh's point of view...

**FLASHBACK**

_I sat in a throne, looking out at the party in front of me._

_I sat with my legs crossed, leaning on one arm that was on the arm rest._

_Ra, sometimes festivals just bored me._

"_My Pharaoh?" _

_I looked over._

_An old man was looking at me, his pale eyes full of concern._

"_Are you alright?"_

"_I'm fine." I sighed, "Just a little bored."_

"_You understand that this is a tradition-"_

"_I know, I know. I'm just bored very easily."_

_Then things got interesting._

_The girl I'd remembered several times whilst hearing the name "House of Life" did backflips across the room, shooting sparkles from her hands._

_I clapped._

_She whooped, landing on her feet and bowing._

_She came over and grinned at me._

"_Did I entertain the great Pharaoh Atem?"_

_I laughed._

"_Yes, Mana, yes you did."_

_She grinned, and took my hands, pulling me out of my seat._

"_No need to b__e bored!" She said, "Have some fun!"_

**END FLASHBACK**

I snapped back to real life.

What just happened? Was that... A memory?

No.

No. That's impossible.

She- Mana- had called me 'Pharaoh'.

Couldn't be real.

But she'd spoken my name...

Strange...

I paid attention to what the others were doing.

Zia drew two circles in the sand and told Carter to stand in one, and Sadie in the other.

"I've got to duel him?" Sadie demanded.

She seemed terrified that she'd hurt him.

"What if we do something wrong?" Carter asked.

"I will oversee the duel." Zia said, "We'll start slowly. First to knock his or her opponent out of their circle wins."

"But we haven't been trained!" Sadie protested.

"This is not school, Sadie. You cannot learn by sitting in a desk and taking notes. One learns magic by doing."

"But-"

"Summon whatever power you can," Zia said. "Use whatever you have available. Begin!"

Sadie and Carter looked at their supplies, both equally confused.

Finally, Sadie took her staff, which grew to about 3 feet long, and obviously concentrated.

A little bit of fire spluttered to life at the end, and got bigger for a second.

Then she gasped and dropped to her knees, the fire spluttering out.

"You alright?" Carter called.

"No." Sadie admited.

"If she knocks herself out, do I win?"

"Shut up!"

"Sadie, you must be careful," Zia called. "You drew from your own reserves, not from the staff. You can quickly deplete your magic."

"Explain?" Sadie said, shakily getting to her feet.

"A magician begins a duel full of magic, the way you might be full after a good meal - "  
"Which I never got," Sadie reminded her.  
"Each time you do magic," Zia continued, "you expend energy. You can draw energy from yourself, but you must know your limits. Otherwise you could exhaust yourself, or worse."

Sadie looked at my smoldering staff. "How much worse?"  
"You could literally burn up."

Sadie hesitated for a second.

"I've done magic before..." She said, "Sometimes it doesn't exhaust me. Why?"

From around her neck, Zia unclasped an amulet. She threw it into the air, and with a flash it turned into a giant vulture. The massive black bird soared over the ruins. As soon as it was out of sight, Zia extended her hand and the amulet appeared in her palm.

"Magic can be drawn from many sources- staffs, wands, scrolls. Amulets are especially powerful. Magic can also be drawn straight from Ma'at, using the Divine Words, but this is difficult. Or" - She locked eyes with Sadie - "it can be summoned from the gods."

"I didn't summon any gods!" Sadie shouted, "They just seem to find me!"

"Hold on," Carter said. "You claimed this place was sacred to our family."  
"It was," Zia agreed.  
"But wasn't this..." Carter frowned. "Didn't the pharaohs have a yearly festival here or something?"  
"Indeed," she said. "The pharaoh would walk down the processional path all the way from Karnak to Luxor. He would enter the temple and become one with the gods. Sometimes, this was purely ceremonial. Sometimes, with the great pharaohs like Ramesses, here - " Zia pointed to one of the huge crumbling statues.

"They would actually host the gods." I interrupted, speaking for the first time since my flashback.

Zia jumped, as if she'd forgotten I existed.

Sometimes, I can be very quiet.

"Wait." Carter said, "You're saying we're related to-"

"The gods choose their hosts carefully. They always preferred blood of the pharaohs. When a magician has the blood of two royal families..."

I started piecing things together.

These two were blood of the pharaohs.

No surprise there.

[I swear, Sadie, that was a compliment! If it comes from me, of all people, it's definitely a compliment!]

But two royal families...

Who was the other?

"Our parents are from two royal lines..." Sadie said, "Dad... Obviously Narmer. I told you he looked just like that picture!"

"That's impossible." Carter said quietly, "That was five thousand years ago..." I could see his mind racing, "Then the Fausts... Ramesses the Great built this courtyard. You're telling me our mom's family is descended from him?"

"Don't tell me that your parents kept this from you. Why do you think you're such a danger to us?"

A danger?

A danger?

I didn't know where she was getting this from.

If someone was powerful, and you had a threat, they could be of great use.

But there was the threat of them turning on you...

But Carter and Sadie didn't seem to have anyone except their uncle, who I'd gathered was missing. Why would they turn their backs on anyone who could help?

"You think we're hosting gods," Sadie said, sounding absolutely stunned. "That's what you're worried about - just because of something our great-times-a-thousand grandparents did? That's completely daft."

"Then prove it!" Zia said, turning her back on them as if they were completely unimportant, "Duel, and show me how weak your magic is!"

Something seemed to snap inside Sadie.

I could see why.

They didn't want to train the two.

They wanted to see how dangerous they were.

Sadie grabbed her staff and threw it.

In mid-air, it transformed into a lioness, soaring in the air- straight towards Zia.

I shrieked in quite an undignified way and threw myself to the ground.

But the lioness threw herself towards Carter.

He did something I didn't expect.

He started to glow and hovered off the ground- a golden falcon-warrior hologram flickering around him.

But this was no hologram.

_An avatar._ A voice told me.

It wasn't mine, but definitely familliar.

Carter swung his sword, and the falcon-warrior mirrored his movement, hitting the lioness.

Sadie's sword clattered to the ground, cut cleanly in half.

Carter dropped to the ground, and looked up, a wild, adreniline-fuled grin flaring upon his face.

"Fun." He said.

Neither seemed out of energy.

"Well?" Sadie demanded, "Better, right?"

"Th-the falcon- he summoned-" Zia spluttered.

But before she could finish, a small child came up and spoke to her in rapid-fire Arabic.

When he left, Zia sat down hard on the sand.

She put her face in her hands and began to cry.

Carter and Sadie came rushing up.

"Zia?" Carter said, "What's wrong?"

"Isklander..." She said quitley.

The two looked shock, and I felt it.

"Oh..." I whispered, kneeling beside her and putting one hand on each shoulder to comfort her.

"I..." Sadie was apparently going to say something then thought better of it, "Never mind. How did it happen?"

"In his sleep..." Zia said shakily, "He-he'd been ailing for years, but..."

"It's okay.." Carter said.

"We know he was important to you." I said, squeezing her shoulders and standing.

Zia wiped at her tears and stood unsteadily.

"You don't understand." She said, "Desjardins is next in line. He will order you two to be executed." She looked at me, "And you, as well, if you help them."

"But we didn't do anything!" Sadie protested.

Zia's eyes flashed with anger.

"Do you not realize how dangerous you are?" She asked, "You are hosing gods."

"Ridiculous." Sadie said, though I could tell she did not believe her words.

"He will order me to brig you in." Zia said, "And I will have to obey."

"You can't!" Carter cried. "You saw what happened in the museum. We're not the problem. Set is. And if Desjardins isn't taking that seriously...well, maybe he's part of the problem too." Zia gripped her staff. I was sure she was going to kill us, but she hesitated.  
"Zia." Sadie said, "Iskandar talked with me last night. He caught me sneaking around the Hall of Ages."  
Zia looked at in s herhock. I reasoned she had only seconds before that shock turned to anger.  
"He said you were his best pupil," Sadie recalled. "He said you were wise. He also said Carter and I have a difficult path ahead of us, and you would know how to help us when the time came." Her staff smoldered. Her eyes reminded me of glass about to shatter.  
"Desjardins will kill us," Sadie persisted. "Do you think that's what Iskandar had in mind?" I counted to five, six, seven. Just when I was sure she was going to blast us, she lowered her staff.

"Use the Obelisk." She said.

"What?" I asked, uneasiness filling my stomach.

Obelisk...

Obelisk...  
"The obelisk at the entrance, fool!" She interupted my train of thought, "You have five minutes, perhaps less, before Desjardins sends orders for your execution. Flee, and destroy Set. The Demon Days begin at sundown. All portals will stop working. You need to get as close as possible to Set before that happens."

She turned to me.

"Protect them." She said, her eyes filled with trust, "I know you can."

That was wierd.

"Hold on." Sadie said, "I meant you should come with us!"

"I cannot betray the House. Now go, or Desjardins will kill you."

Sadie grabbed Carter and dragged him away, myself scrambling after them.

...

Sadie stood in front of the Obelisk- that name still bothered me- trying desperately.

So, naturally, she did the smart thing, and said very intelligent things like:

"Open seseme! Oh, bloody hell, Obelisk, OPEN!"

It didn't.

I heard the sound of hoofbeats as the House caught up with us.

They came into view, and I did something I didn't even need to think about.

I raised my left arm, the wing on the golden bracelet unfanning.

"Come forth, DARK MAGICIAN!" I shouted.

Pure power surged through me and into the ground, tingling in my veins. It seemed my body was glad to use magic once more.

But it was not the type of magic the House used.

The air turned hot, and in a flash, the Dark Magician stood in front of me, aiming his staff.

"HOLY BUGGER!" Shouted Sadie.

I lowered my arm, shouting back at her,

"Keep trying!"

The horses reared back.

Desjardins stormed up, the leopardskin of the Chief Lector around his shoulders.

"You dare to use illegal Shadow Magic against us?" He shouted.

"I do. Dark Magician, ATTACK!"

The magic curled up around his staff, and he threw it. The magicians of the First Nome scattered.

"GOT IT!" Sadie shouted.

"Good."

Carter was having a bad time.

He was going against two longnecks.

"Dark Magician!" I called, "Attack the longnecks!"

He blasted one, and it crumbled to dust.

Carter grabbed his sword, and sliced through the other one.

I grabbed Carter and followed Sadie through the portal, the House of Life scrambling after us.

They did not reach us.

...

**I know I promised Shadow Magic, and you got some!**

**Sorry, I didn't realize how long this part was! **

**We see Yugi in the next chapter, so keep reading.**

**K thanks, love y'all, BAI!**


	4. I get DiaBOUND

**Chapter Four****:  
I get DiaBOUND**

**Y U G I**

Sorry to cut in to their amazing magical fun-time extravaganza- _He summoned the Dark Magician! It's amazing!_- but I'm much more important.

[Atem's laughing. He should be- I'm hilarious!]

But anyways, Joey and I were sitting in my room, wind and rain lashing the window in the ceiling.

I looked up and scowled at it.

"Wass wrong, Yug?" Joey asked, his dark brown eyes looking where my amethyst ones were.

"I don't like that storm." I said honestly.

"It's a storm."

"No.. No it's gotta be more than that..."

I brought my eyes back to the board on which we were playing Monopoly.

Joey was winning, the bastard.

I heard shuffling downstairs.

Probably Grandpa coming up to see if we were okay.

"_T_as!" Shouted a voice, and I heard a sound like a snake and a _thump_.

"Should we...?" Joey started to ask.

But I didn't even hesitate.

Down the stairs and into the living room, my grandfather lied on the ground, his arms bound to his torso and ankles bound together by some thick twine.

The laughter made me look up.

Dark skin, off-white hair, dark grey eyes, a 4-stitched scar down the side of his face. He wore nothing but black shorts, and a red trench coat embroided with white.

"Bakura!"

[Don't ask me why I shouted his name. It seemed like a good idea at the time]

"Hello, Yugi." He said, a note of arrogant nonchalance in his voice.

"How are you even here?" I demanded.

"I have found power, Yugi. More power than the Millennium Items could ever give me!"

I blinked.

The Items were damn powerful. It'd been his life- and after-life- goal to collect all 7 and rule the world.

And he'd abandoned that quest?

Somehow, this was not Bakrura's thinking.

"How?" I asked.

He chuckled, his eyes flashing dark red for a moment.

"In the form of the God of Chaos himself- Set!"

His form seemed to flicker.

One second, he was his usual arrogant self.

The next, his eyes were dark red, hair fluttering around his head as if wind was blowing it, a long, black staff in his hand, power rolling off of him in waves.

My body screamed, _RUN!_

But I wasn't going to leave my grandfather at Bakura- Or Set-'s mercy.

"Bakura" twirled the staff.

"Amazing, isn't it?" He said, "How having a human host of this magnitude, can give you so much _power_. Of course, you'd know all about being a host."

I stared at him.

But then he was Bakura again, arm outstretching.

"_Tas_!"

My mind translated it to _bind_.

The twine came right at me of it's own accord.

I turned and fled up the stairs, scrambling to get away.

So, of course, I tripped on the stairs, and in mid-air, the twine curled around my torso, arms and ankles. I dropped onto the stairs painfully.

Bakura stood over me, grey eyes gleaming.

"Well." He said, "That was easier than I expected."

He grabbed my bangs and pulled my head up. I gasped in pain.

"Oh, how I'd love to kill you." He whispered, "But I wo-"

"Hey, Limey Boy!"

Joey was on the top step.

He threw a toothbrush holder down the stairs, hitting Bakura clean in the forehead.

My head was dropped, and smacked against the stair.

Joey scrambled down the stairs and punched Bakura in the face.

Big mistake.

Hot air and sand blasted off of him, and he raised off the ground, eyes dark red, black staff in hand.

"Okay!" Joey shouted, "This is gettin' weird!"

"Bakura" raised the staff, and said,

"_A'max!_"

Joey went up in flames faster than he could've had he been doused in gasoline. He shrieked, "stop drop and roll"ing, but it didn't work.

Normally, he probably would've shouted, "SCHOOLS ARE FULL OF _CRAP_!" but he was currently on fire.

"Bakura" gave a smug smile, and raised the staff once more.

The flames went out, and Joey dropped, gasping.

"Bakura" dropped to the ground, and walked over to me, leaning over me.

"Your pharaoh friend will definitely come for you." He said.

"Wait- The Pharao-"

But he touched the staff to my head, and there was nothing.

**POV Transition: Atem**

We tumbled out of the portal, hitting paving stones and rolling over one-and-other.

I stood calmly, dusting myself off.

The Dark Magician still hovered over me, looking at me the way you might look at a younger brother.

I raised my hand, and the winged bracelet glowed, the Dark Magician returning to wherever I summoned him from.

Carter scrambled to his feet, pointing his sword at me.

"How did you do that?" He demanded quietly.

"Shadow Magic." Sadie said, "Popularly used throughout the reigns of the pharaohs Akenemkaunan, Seto and the Nameless Pharaoh-" Those names sent pains stabbing through my head... Why? Were they important to me?

Nameless Pharaoh...

"-mostly used for defense," Sadie went on, "though, sometimes, it was used in horrific games where both players summoned a monster, and whoever's monster was destroyed first lost. And you know what happened to the loser?"

"They loose their soul." I said quietly.

**FLASHBACK**

_There were rumbles inside the cavern._

_Mana and I rode up. Mana threw herself off the horse before we'd even stopped._

"_Master Mahad!" She shouted, "We've come to help!"_

_But a tablet was falling- right above her head._

"_Mana, look out!"_

_I rode over and scooped her up, the tablet hitting the ground right behind us._

_I rode us over, and got off, Mana scrambling over to see who won._

_When the dust cleared, we knew it was not Mahad._

_His Illusion Magician with his face was encased in the stone tablet, the inscription reading "The Dark Magician"._

_Everything inside Mana seemed to be crushed._

_She forgot diplomacy, she forgot that she was in front of the Pharaoh. _

_She threw herself towards that tablet, sobbing._

_She put her hand against it an slid down to her knees._

"_Ma- Master Mahad..." She whispered._

_I walked over and knelt beside her, placing my hands on her shoulders._

_She leaned into my chest, still crying._

"_He did it to protect us..." I said quietly._

"_Do- doesn't make it any- any b-better..."_

_I hugged her._

"_I know, Mana... I know."_

**END FLASHBACK **

"Like Mahad..." I said quietly.

"Who?" Sadie demanded.

"My... One of my best friends from childhood... He lost his soul, and... Yeah..."

Sadie blinked in confusion.

"I have no idea where I got all of that..."

"Bonjour, les enfants." Said an unfamiliar voice.

I almost had a heart-attack.

There was a woman dressed in all black, looking at us through her coat.

Then she ripped it off, revealing herself to be a tall, slender woman in a leopard-print acrobatic suit, with lamp-like cat eyes.

I raised my arm, ready to fend off any monsters, but Sadie just cried, "Bast!" and ran over and hugged her.

"Miss me?" She asked.


End file.
